Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/58

34 34 WAR OF GRANADA. PART I. Haughty de- meanor of Frrdir.and. of Malaga, and rejected ; that it was too late for them to stiiDulate conditions, and nothing now re- mained but to abide by those, which he, as their conqueror, should vouchsafe to them." ^^ Ferdinand's answer spread general consterna- tion throughout Malaga. The inhabitants saw too plainly that nothing was to be hoped from an ap- peal to sentiments of humanity. After a tumultu- ous debate, the deputies were despatched a second time to the Christian camp, charged with proposi- tions in which concession was mingled with men- ace. They represented that the severe response of .King Ferdinand to the citizens had rendered them desperate. That, however, they were willing to resign to him their fortifications, their city, in short their property of every description, on his assurance of their personal security and freedom. If he refused this, they would take their Christian captives, amounting to five or six hundred, from the dungeons in which they lay, and hang them like dogs over the battlements ; and then, placing their old men, women, and children in the fortress, they would set fire to the town, and cut a way for them- selves through their enemies, or fall in the attempt. " So," they continued, " if you gain a victory, it shall be such a one as shall make the name of Mal- aga ring throughout the world, and to ages yet unborn ! " Ferdinand, unmoved by these menaces, 24 Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et Ordenes, fol. 54. — Pulgar, Reyes d'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 29{?. — L. Catolicos, cap. 92. — Bernaldez, Marineo, Cosas Mcniorables, fol. Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 85. 175. — Rades y Andrada, Las Tres